Scientists are always looking for new ways to understand the world around them, which can lead to some pretty strange experiments. From talking plants to invisible gorillas, this list of 10 weird and wacky experiments conducted by scientists highlights the lengths researchers will go in the quest for scientific discovery. Some of the experiments, like the poop transplant, have led to groundbreaking medical treatments, while others have raised ethical questions. But all of them have left lasting impressions on the scientific community and the general public.
10 Weird and Wacky Experiments Conducted by Scientists
1. The Cockroach Telephone
In 2010, a group of researchers in France conducted an experiment to test how cockroaches might react to certain sounds. They placed electrodes on the bugs’ antennae and exposed them to recordings of car engines and other machines. Surprisingly, the cockroaches seemed to perceive these sounds as a form of communication and began to exhibit “excited” behavior.
2. The Invisible Gorilla
In 1999, psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons conducted an experiment in which they asked participants to count how many times a group of people passed a basketball back and forth. During the video, an actor in a gorilla suit walked into the frame, beat his chest and then left. Astonishingly, half of the participants failed to notice the gorilla at all.
3. The Zombie Dog
In 1940, Soviet scientist Sergei Bryukhonenko conducted an experiment in which he allegedly brought a dog back to life after it had been declared clinically dead. He did so by pumping the animal’s blood with a special “autojector” machine that oxygenated the blood and circulated it throughout the body.
4. The Poop Transplant
In recent years, doctors have experimented with fecal transplants as a treatment for certain medical conditions. In one such experiment, researchers took poop from a healthy donor and transplanted it into the intestines of a person suffering from ulcerative colitis. The patient’s symptoms improved dramatically, suggesting that the bacteria in the donor’s poop had somehow altered the patient’s microbiome.
5. The Monkey Head Transplant
In 1970, a scientist in the United States named Robert White conducted an experiment in which he transplanted the head of one monkey onto the body of another. Although the monkey did not survive the procedure, White’s experiment was groundbreaking in that it proved it was possible to reattach a severed spine.
6. The Milk Teeth Necklace
In the 19th century, some parents in the United States began collecting their children’s baby teeth and turning them into necklaces or other pieces of jewelry. They believed that these “milk teeth” had magical properties that could protect them from illness and injury.
7. The Marshmallow Test
In the 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted an experiment in which he offered young children a choice: they could eat one marshmallow right away, or wait 15 minutes and receive two marshmallows. The study demonstrated that the children who were able to delay gratification tended to have better life outcomes in various areas, such as education and income.
8. The Weightless Sperm
In 2008, scientists sent frozen samples of human sperm into space aboard a spacecraft called Foton-M3. The samples were kept in a weightless environment for about 10 days before being returned to Earth. Surprisingly, the sperm samples had maintained their viability and were able to fertilize eggs.
9. The Ultrasonic Shampoo
In the 1970s, a group of scientists in California conducted an experiment to determine whether a shampoo that emitted ultrasonic sound waves could penetrate the hair shaft and clean the scalp more effectively. The experiment was unsuccessful, but it did highlight how far some researchers are willing to go in the pursuit of scientific discovery.
10. The Talking Plants
In the 1970s, researcher Cleve Backster conducted an experiment in which he hooked up a polygraph machine to a number of different plants. He discovered that the plants seemed to be able to “sense” his presence and respond to his thoughts in various ways, such as by changing their electrical output or even “screaming” when he burned one of their leaves. Although the results of the experiment were controversial, they sparked an ongoing debate about whether plants might have some form of consciousness or awareness.